356 ^irds In and About the Station 
I fancy, had a twisted beak when I caught him; this may have 
spoiit his temper, but one would have thought it would also 
have prevented him from doing much harm. They are easy 
to cater for but require rather stronger insect food than the 
Ouzels. It is a pity that they seem to lose colour a bit in 
captivity. 
They have a loud and pretty whistling song, which is 
particularly pleasing at the courting season, when the bird 
is in the habit of taking slow circular soaring flights, returning 
to its original perch, shiging hard the while. It is found up 
to 11,UUU feet in summer, descending to lower levels and 
even to the plains in winter (Gates). 1 have seen it below 
■1001) feet in summer, and above 6000 in winter. I believe 
the restricted food-supply of the streams in winter, force the 
birds to spread out; indeed, at this season, they are common 
about gardens, well away from the streams they frequent at 
other seasons. They have a sharp, shrill note, easily heard 
above the noise of rushing water. Other stream -haunting birds 
have practically the same note. It is a ground feeder, and it 
is said to feed principally on snails, which I can well believe, 
though I have never found the collections of broken shells 
mentioned by Oates. They are very fond of snails in captivity. 
They breed from April to June, building a large nest of 
moss and roots in a crevice in a rock near a stream. 
The Chamba people set such store by the Grey-winged 
Ouzel as a singing pet, that they rutlicr ignore the qualities of 
other really good songsters, which they never seem to keep in 
captivity in spite of their brighter colours. Still, if the Grey- 
winged is the TRUE Kastura here, the claims of others are 
half acknowledged by the names given them. The Grey-headed 
Ouzel (which I believe is the true Kastura in Kashmir) ^s 
called the Red Kastura, the subject of this note is the Blue 
Kastura, while all other thrush beasts are ordinary Kasturas. 
Rough description: Blue all over, brighter on the head, 
wings, and tail, each feather tipped with shining blue or wnite. 
The young are dull and lack the shming tips to the feathers. 
The} soon attain adult plumage. Length, 13.5 inches; tail; 
5.5. 
The Indian Blub Ghat (Larvivora hrunnea) is a per- 
fectly charming little bird. They frequent thick jungle, feeding 
